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A blog about living, loving, and urban homesteading in the Pacific North West & Midwest. Everything from gardening and home renovation to recipes and moving tips. Building community and growing together.

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Monday: Philly cheesesteaksTuesday: TACOS (like every Tuesday. This week is chicken)Wednesday: Buffalo chicken casserole in the slow cookerThursday: Ribs & saladFriday: Family dinner at my mom’s houseSaturday: Leftovers every weekSunday: Tortellini with pork sauce from leftover ribs. Did I mention we don’t have an oven?

Guess I should have paid more attention to the packaging. I have four different brands of broth in three different flavors, all with the quantity being NET WEIGHT not fluid ounces. My 32 oz container just had almost 5 full cups (about an ounce shy).

Just meandering around some ideas because I have been super productive today and have no TV service...Trying to decide what to make for winter holiday gifts this year. I'm envious of my mother's ability to pick Just The Right Gift for people. She's put a lot of effort and thought into being good at it, and having a disposable income helps though she's also very good at doing gifts on a budget. That's not me. I'm not bad at it, I'm just broke. As a result I have found my niche making bulk food gifts. Less personalized to the recipient but a more personalized gift of myself. One year I made Hot Cocoa Baskets! A basket per family home with a mug per person, a selection of hot cocoa packets, decorated baggies of marshmallows and cookies. It was supposed to have chocolate-dipped spoons and jars of homemade cocoa mix, but I had a job change three weeks before Christmas and ran out of time. Averaged cost per person: $1.76. One year we made 100 lbs of plums into ja…

I make the distinction between art and crafts. I'm crafty, but artistic? Not so much. I have been gathering containers to make a baby percussion kit with. He's had a colander and spoon for a couple months now, and we recently added a coffee can drum.

I had another set of "instruments" in mind. I saved some containers, used some things I had around the house, and voila! Turned this... Into this! That bear needed another good scrubbing because we used oil to get the label off. It's getting bells. Rice (some with food coloring), white beans, popcorn, buckwheat groats, chia seeds. I glued the lids shut and taped a couple for extra security. I'll let you know how he likes them!

If I'd known about this as a kid, my whole world would have been a lot different.

You can put oatmeal in jars, add boiling water, and BOOM. BREAKFAST.

"Oh but Heather you need quick oats"/"It only works with some oats"/"You can't use other kinds of hot cereal."

That's what they told me too, but they're wrong. I've tried it. I probably wouldn't use wheat berries, but any somewhat processed grain should do.

Here's my recipe, you may need to tweak to your tastes.

1 pint jar1/2 c oats 1/2 c toppings Dry sweetener if you're using it Pinch of salt Store at room temperature. To eat: add boiling water to just below the fill line--I leave about 1/2 inch. Stir and rest for 5 minutes. Add liquid sweetener, butter, milk/cream to taste. Cream of wheat/Farina plumps so much more than oats. I use 1/3c and no toppings. What kind of toppings? Dried fruit like cranberries are easy & cheapChopped or shaved nuts are greatSeeds like pumpkin or s…

I have a tendency to hoard food. There's really just no getting around it. A combination of anxiety over running out and excitement over trying new things means that I overbuy, and buy things that I don't use often. This has resulted in an overflowing pantry and further anxiety.
So every year at least once (and usually during the leaner months for hours at work), I try to challenge our household to the Eat the Larder challenge created by NW Edible Life: try to limit grocery purchases to perishables only, and eat through the non-staples and overstocked items.
This year I'm enlisting the help of my neighbors, and putting together a couple family food boxes to gift through our Buy Nothing group.
We are already a week into it but finally life with a baby is letting me get back to blogging, since I figured out how to make it work from my phone, except pictures. Which means I can blog while nursing!
Make sure you're connected to us on Facebook where I post snippets about,…

Just a small town girl, living in a lonely world... From a small university town in Michigan to the slightly larger city of Seattle. I'm a dreamer, a schemer, and an explorer. I'm very glad my partner lets me have a polyamorous love affair with coffee, because Coffee and I love each other very much. I'm coming to terms with being disabled; living with PTSD, OCD, and other such Alphabet Soup mental health complications, plus a bunch of physical Stuff including chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, and limited mobility. I feel like this blog is an important part of my journey. Something I need to share with others, to help us all grow and learn and change ourselves for the better with a sense of community about us. It's at least 50% cooking, but there's a bunch of other stuff here too!